Call for solidarity against latest US attack on Venezuela

Let the Venezuelan people overcome the crisis in a democratic and peaceful manner

Imperialist America is again attacking Venezuela after earlier enacting sanctions and an economic blockade as well as financially supporting maneuvers by the right-wing opposition.

This ended in an act of racist violence against 23 black Venezuelans who were burnt alive. There was also an assignation attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in mid-2018.

This time the United States is giving support to a unilateral declaration by right-wing opposition leader Juan Guaido who has declared himself Venezuela’s interim president. This is not long after President Maduro was democratically elected for a second term and two days after officers from the National Guard launched an attempted coup.

The latest presidential election in Venezuela was in fact brought forward by the Maduro government, as requested by the right-wing opposition itself, in order to ease political tensions in a democratic manner.

The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) however boycotted the elections. Maduro and his alliance of supporters won the election with 67.8 percent with 6,245 million people voting for him to serve a second term. Although only 46.07 percent of the voting public cast a vote in the May 2018 election.

The US immediately rejected the election results and launched a number of accusations. This was despite the fact that international election observers and international election monitoring organisations declared that the election was free and fair.

The US has repeatedly tried to overthrow the left-wing Venezuelan government since President Hugo Chavez came to power. In April 2002 several military generals launched a coup, arresting Chavez and imprisoning him on an island.

The right-wing opposition led by Pedro Carmona, declared a new administration and dissolved the Constitutional Assembly and other state institutions. The US immediately declared its support for Carmona and his military supporters. Fortunately Chavez was soon returned to office by massive demonstrations by the Venezuelan people who opposed and resisted the short-lived coup.

This time round, citing “democratic and humanitarian” grounds, US President Donald Trump’s has declared support for Guaido and launched a dangerous maneuver which violates the sovereignty of the people and nation of Venezuela.

The US government has even proposed launching a military intervention in the UN Security Council in order to deal with the political tensions in Venezuela. In the end the proposal was narrowly defeated in with 16 Security Council members supporting it and 17 against.

Indonesia, which is a non-permanent member of the Security Council, contributed by declaring its position in the vote.

Indonesia’s representative on the council, Dian Triansyah Djani, said that Venezuela is facing a serious crisis with some 3 million people leaving the country. This statement legitimises the crisis in Venezuela, despite the fact that is being caused the actions of US imperialism and sabotage by right-wing opposition groups.

The statement by Indonesia’s representative shows that it is closing its eyes and ears to the real problem in Venezuela, namely US imperialist intervention in supporting its collaborators in Venezuela, namely the right-wing opposition.

By doing this, Indonesia is ignoring Venezuela’s sovereignty as country which has the right to determine its own future.

What was happening in Venezuela before Guaido declared himself interim president was not a humanitarian crisis. Rather it was an economic crisis as the UN itself stated in 2018.

Conversely, the US and the right-wing opposition have played a role in this economic crisis or “economic war”. The blockade, economic sanctions, sabotage, the hording and smuggling of goods and financial speculation, have made live increasingly difficult for the ordinary Venezuelan people.

History teaches us well that the US has frequently used these kinds of tactics against the leadership of countries which refuse to submit to the interests of US capital.

Indonesia’s founding president Sukarno and Chile’s Salvador Allende were victims of just such tactics which created an economic crisis and culminated in military coups. The principle aim being to annex the country’s natural resources, human resources and markets.

Based on recent developments in Venezuela, we from Solidarity for Venezuela (SV) state the following:

1. We reject US imperialist intervention and support for its collaborators as a violation of the Venezuelan people and nation’s sovereignty.

2. We reject the European Union’s threat calling for Venezuela to hold fresh elections or face military intervention.

3. We support the Maduro government in its efforts to overcome the political crisis democratically and peacefully.

4. We criticise the Indonesian government’s statement in the UN Security Council which totally failed to address the key point that the US is violating Venezuela’s national sovereignty.

5. We reject the economic blockade and sanctions against Venezuela and demand that the Indonesian government do the same.

6. We condemn the acts of sabotage and racist actions by right-wing groups in Venezuela against supporters of the Venezuelan government.

7. We call on the people’s movements around the world to provide solidarity and support to the people and the Venezuelan revolution in defending its sovereignty against imperialist intervention.

The Indonesian Student Union (SMI), the Political Congress of the Working People’s Organisation of Struggle (KPO-PRP), Resistance, the People’s Liberation Party (PPR), the Populist Democratic Trade Union Federation (F-SEDAR), the Student Struggle Center for National Liberation (PEMBEBASAN), the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), the South Jakarta Indonesian National Students Movement (GMNI Jakarta Selatan), the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP), the Earth of Mankind Trade Union (SEBUMI), Popular Youth, the Indonesian People’s Union of Struggle (SPRI), the University of Indonesia Progressive Student Union (SEMAR UI) and the Papuan People’s Democratic Movement (Garda Papua).

[Translated by James Balowski. Slightly edited for readability. The original title of the statement was “Pernyataan Sikap Solidaritas untuk Venezuela”.]

About us

The Indoleft website is maintained by the Asia Pacific Solidarity Network (APSN), a network of activists building solidarity with and support for movements for social justice, genuine democracy and self-determination in the Asia Pacific region.